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2025-11-20-pacifico-ai-solutions-engineer-cover-letter

Wednesday, November 20th, 2025

Dear Pacifico Group Hiring Team,

I'm Gary Sheng, and I want to help build AI solutions that transform your infrastructure platforms.

Earlier this year, I graduated at the top of my class from Gauntlet AI, an AI-first engineering bootcamp. If you were to ask the team why they recommended me to hiring partners, I think they would say it's a mix of my product sense, engineering velocity, and people skills.

And I'm glad that Brett Johnson told me to stop by when Sally, Theresa, and Jordan stopped by the Gauntlet office.

While I don't have experience owning the full MLOps lifecycle, I have full confidence in my ability to do so based on my ability to learn fast and figure things out, and the fact that I have friends and mentors that are applied AI leaders in the world, including:

  • Mark Baciak: Former intel agency technologist who recently sold his AI company to Cisco, and building a sovereign AI as a service company; My partner in advising the Catholic Church
  • Travis Oliphant: Creator of some of the most popular AI python libraries in the world, and is building an ecosystem focused on helping companies adopt sovereign AI

More importantly, I have a service-based mindset, I build relationships quickly, and I thrive in intrapreneur-type roles where I can spot inefficiencies and build solutions that delight people at scale.

Why I'm the Right Fit​

I'm Built for the Intrapreneur Role​

I know this isn't a typical AI engineering position. It's entrepreneurship within infrastructure—spotting market gaps, building tech to capture them, and having the autonomy to move fast. That's exactly the environment where I excel.

I co-founded Civics Unplugged, training 2,000+ across 70+ countries. We achieved financial sustainability by identifying what users actually needed and building programs to deliver it. When COVID hit, we pivoted within weeks to become one of the first fully digital civic education programs. That's the kind of blank-canvas problem-solving this role requires.

I organized Edge City Denver 2024—a seven-day event with 3,000+ attendees and 4.6/5 satisfaction. I designed programming, recruited speakers, managed logistics, and built the infrastructure that made our Telegram the nerve center of the entire ETHDenver conference. I know how to go from zero to deployed solution quickly.

I Can Work with Executives and Technical Teams​

You need someone who can present directly to C-suite and investment committees while also building tools that non-technical teams adopt. I've done both:

  • Organized high-level events with Vitalik Buterin and other world-leading changemakers
  • Currently advise the Catholic Church on AI strategy (institution serving 1.3 billion people)
  • Started my career as a Software Engineer at Google Cloud from 2015 to 2019, leading a small team

I understand how to translate technical wins into P&L impact. I grew Gitcoin Passport from 200,000 to 1M users by understanding both the technical implementation and the commercial impact. Gitcoin Passport was then acquired shortly after.

I Have the Technical Chops and Learning Velocity​

Gauntlet AI taught me to ship AI products fast. I'm have built full-stack applications using modern frameworks. I have experience with RAG architectures, vector databases, embeddings, and prompt engineering.

Yes, some people may have spent more time consulting on MLOps for different companies. But the field is so new that learning velocity matters more than years of experience. I learn things fast, I figure things out, and I'm good on my feet when requirements change. That's more valuable in unstructured, high-change environments than specialized expertise in last year's tools.

I'm Aligned with 661 Foundation's Mission​

I've literally written about the importance of hyperlocal impact and democratizing human flourishing. I built a nonprofit around youth civic engagement that reached 70+ countries. Named Forbes 30 Under 30 for this work.

I understand what 661 Foundation is trying to do: reinvest profits into community facilities and youth programs where Pacifico operates. I could help expand philanthropic efforts and potentially build AI tools that help grants reach local projects faster. This resonates deeply with my life's work.

I Bring Honesty and Outside Perspective​

I'm a very honest person who provides outside perspective about what's happening within organizations. I've learned the hardest thing to find is leadership willing to receive uncomfortable truths about how things can be better. Based on how this role is designed, it feels like Pacifico values that kind of clarity.

I'm not trying to protect a narrow domain. I'm trying to build things that work. If a project isn't delivering ROI, I'll say so. If there's a better approach, I'll prototype it. That honesty, combined with bias toward action, is what turns AI experiments into P&L impact.

I Can Build and Mentor Teams​

As this practice scales, I'll mentor future GauntletAI hires. I've built teams before:

  • Led engineering team at Google Cloud
  • Built Civics Unplugged team that trained thousands
  • Organized Edge City with dozens of contributors

I know how to establish standards, transfer knowledge, and create culture where people do their best work.

My Commitment​

I'm totally willing to be hybrid and come to California regularly. I'm ready to map pain points across Pacifico companies, prototype AI solutions in weeks, build secure and scalable tools, and present results to executives.

This is a dream role: intrapreneur autonomy, equity upside in spin-outs, direct executive access, and the chance to leave a technology fingerprint on multi-billion-dollar platforms while supporting community impact through 661 Foundation.

I'm ready to build AI that powers data centers, fuels jets, and transforms communities—then help monetize it for the rest of the world.

Gary Sheng